Helmand historical monuments facing threats

A rough number of historical monuments are facing heavy threat during the growing insurgency in the southern province, an official said the other day.Nik Mohammad Nazari, the manager of the Helmand provincial historical monuments told The Kabul Times that including Lashkargah, the provincial capital, there are wide number of historical monuments all over the province, where he warned they need heavy restoration and repair, as well as security.“Totally up to 41 historical monuments and 11 historical sites have so far been located by the ministry of information and culture to be facing serious threats of collapse and damage, if not paid attention,” he said.According to him, many of the historical monuments date back to pre-Islamic eras or 3rd Islamic centuries, besides several ancient monuments like Sarwan fortress, Amir Koror castle, Sultan Mahmoud castle etc. Only Shahzada Hussain castle shrine had been repaired and restored in 2011, while the remaining needed serious repair, said the official.Each month as many as 1500 people from different provinces of the country, visit Bust Castle and Shahzada Hussain Shrine and some other ancient monuments, he said adding a small number of foreign tourists have still visited the province for the historical monuments.Non excavation have so far been launched in the province and yet to recover any ancient monuments in the province, he said adding his office has conducted a publicity through media to attract attentions to the ancient monuments in the province, according to the source.Up to 11 historical sites have been registered by the ministry of information and culture, Nazari continued. But there is a need for researches and explorations to recover more relics and register by the ministry.According to him, the provincial directorate of information and culture has had some plans to be launched in the future; such as preparation for professionally launching researches to recover more monuments, launching public information among the people about the values of the cultural and historical monuments, asking the ministry for allocating special budget in this field, sustainable security of the ancient monuments and prevention of usurpation of the areas, where ancient monuments are believed to be hidden or undiscovered.Karima Malikzada